Military

DATE=01/19/05

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SRI LANKA / TSUNAMI RECONSTRUCTION L-ONLY

NUMBER=2-321871

BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN

DATELINE=COLOMBO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Sri Lankan President Opens Reconstruction Phase of Tsunami Relief Efforts

INTRO: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has officially launched the rebuilding phase following December's deadly tsunami. The ceremony took place in the southern town of Hambantota, which was almost entirely destroyed by the deadly waves. But as VOA's Patricia Nunan reports from Colombo, many in Hambantota are skeptical of the government's reconstruction plan.

TEXT: President Kumaratunga says she was proud to start national reconstruction projects in Hambantota - one of the poorest towns in the country and one of the worst affected by the deadly tsunami.

Speaking Wednesday, the focus, she says, is first to rebuild homes.

/// KUMARATUNGA ACT ///

"Today we have begun the construction of six-thousand houses - that is the number that has been destroyed in this district, completely destroyed by the tidal waves."

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Last week, President Kumaratunga met with lawmakers to create an "action plan" for rebuilding Sri Lanka following the December 26th tsunami. Local media report the plan envisages the reconstruction of 60 coastal towns, plus roads, railways and electricity lines. It is expected to cost at least three and a half billion dollars.

Families affected by the tsunami disaster are also to receive the equivalent of 50 dollars to help them get on their feet again. But they will be expected to comply with a new regulation forbidding building within 100 meters of the sea.

For many, like the fishermen who lived along the coast in Hambantota, the prospect of a move is not welcome.

/// CLEANING SOUNDS SFX, FADE ///

They have already begun cleaning the local well, using ropes to haul out buckets full of debris that had collected there. Except for parts of the mosque in this Muslim-minority area, few of the scores of houses that once lined the seafront remain standing.

The government has promised to house the community in apartment blocks to be built a few kilometers away. But Mansur Hassen, who came to help the people of Hambantota rebuild, says that idea simply will not work for fishermen, because of the cost of transporting fishing equipment.

/// HASSEN ACT ///

"They do not know how to live in flats and look after boats in flats and bring their gear here. See, they're not rich people. If they were rich they could transport it in their own vehicles and take it back. But they're extremely poor and they live day by day. So they need to be able to have access to the shore."

/// END ACT ///

More than 30-thousand people in Sri Lanka were killed by the deadly tsunami - a figure that officials say could eventually exceed 40 thousand. (signed)

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